LISBON, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Councillors elected to the Lisbon town hall will be sworn in on Thursday, without having reached an agreement on how to govern.
Fernando Medina of the ruling Socialist Party (PS) won local elections in Lisbon on Oct. 1. Gaining 42 percent of the vote, it was a comfortable victory, but not enough to rule by majority.
The municipal chamber is made up of 17 seats and the PS has eight, meaning it requires the backing of just one other councilor. But a pact has yet to be secured.
At national level, the PS minority government enjoys parliamentary support from the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc (BE). A similar arrangement would be viable in the Lisbon town hall.
The PCP, which contests local elections as the Unified Democratic Coalition (CDU) in conjunction with the Greens, has two councilors, and the BE has one. The BE has confirmed that talks with Medina have taken place, but a pact has failed to materialize.
Thus councilors enter office without assigned portfolios and the exact make-up of the executive is still a mystery.
All that's confirmed is that Medina will be mayor.
